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Councillor Doug Ford met Sunday with seven councillors and on the menu for discussion was whether they would support a byelection if Mayor Rob Ford loses his appeal in January and is forced out of office.

The roughly two-hour meeting happened over breakfast at Perkins Family Restaurant in Etobicoke.

The Etobicoke North (Ward 2) councillor has made no secret of his desire for a byelection if Mayor Ford gets tossed out of office for violating conflict-of-interest legislation.

Ford goes to court Jan. 7 to appeal the decision of the judge who determined the mayor ran afoul of Ontario’s conflict-of-interest laws.

Estimates for holding a 2013 byelection have ranged from $7 million to $15 million.

Councillor Ford refused comment on the Sunday meeting.

However, Palacio said Ford noted they are “ready for anything” when it came to the court decision.

“(He said) the mayor was democratically elected and we should respect the wish of the public and let the public decide, whatever it means,” Palacio said.

Di Giorgio also confirmed the group talked about “the mayor’s predicament.

“I indicated to him that it was my best guesstimate that the mayor was going to win his appeal,” Di Giorgio said. “But in the event that he doesn’t win the appeal, obviously council will have to make a lot of important decisions beginning with whether we have a byelection or whether we appoint.”

Holyday said the “informal” event was “just a bunch of people getting together for a breakfast.”

Ainslie — who opposes the idea of a taxpayer-funded byelection to replace the mayor — said the group chatted about a variety of City Hall topics and no decisions were made.

Byelection talk on menu at councillor breakfast meeting

Councillor Doug Ford met Sunday with seven councillors and on the menu for discussion was whether they would support a byelection if Mayor Rob Ford loses his appeal in January and is forced out of office.

The roughly two-hour meeting happened over breakfast at Perkins Family Restaurant in Etobicoke.